All Is Well
by Galxychld
Summary: 7th Fanfic challenge-Marguerite and Roxton vignette


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All is Well

Disclaimer: Don't own them, wish I did, but…oh well! Just borrowing them temporarily and will give them back safe and sound. 

Author's note: So sorry for the quality of this piece, I just whipped it out because I thought maybe it was time for me to try my hand at the fanfic challenge! Hope you all like it anyway. Oh, and for this one assume that Ned is back and Finn has gone home to the future. This is set a little into the future. 

The night was quiet, the hum of the activated electrical fence adding to the myriad soft noises as animals hunted in the depths of the dark jungle. The leaves of the trees whispered in the tiny breeze that danced through the treehouse. Suddenly a stronger gust of wind blew a draft of cooler air across Marguerite's cheek. The rustle of the curtains caught the attention of the former triple agent's senses. She woke up slowly. In the dim moonlight the contours of her room seemed unfamiliar and vaguely threatening. What had roused her from her sleep? She sat up in her bed, a feeling of dread nagging at her. She looked around, but didn't see anything suspicious. She couldn't hear any noises that were cause for concern. What was it? And then she knew.

She had heard the curtains. It had been quiet enough that she had heard the curtains rustle. The absence of sound in her room was most definitely not normal! She quickly got out of bed, only noticing now that Roxton was not beside her. She forced herself not to panic. Roxton was most likely having a drink in the kitchen. 

However, as she moved away from the bed, her panic threatened to rise again. One of Malone's journals had fallen from the stack she had taken into her room. It was lying open on the floor. She knew that they had all been stacked neatly next to the bed before she had gone to sleep. Her eyes swept the moonlit room. She knew well the placement of every single thing there, as haphazard as it occasionally appeared. She noticed with more alarm that the Webleys Roxton had been cleaning were missing. 

She hurried over to the cradle in the corner. The baby should have been fussing by now; it was about time to feed her. Her hand reached down into the dark space and encountered…nothing. She rapidly felt into every corner of the cradle, but the fact was that the baby was not there. 

Marguerite whirled around, taking in the room. Such small things. An overturned journal, missing guns, missing Roxton. But now, missing baby. There'd already been one attempt by a disgruntled group to snatch the child of the mighty hunter. They'd all been so tired today after repairing a rotting section of the windmill that someone could have sneaked in. She rushed out of the room, ready to run to the main room and sound the alarm bell that Challenger had installed after the last surprise attack. 

Her heart pounding, she rounded the corner and stumbled to a halt, surprised by the scene in front of her. The table remained as they had left it before going to bed. A block of goat cheese lay on the table, along with the scissors Veronica had been using to cut a piece of cloth to wrap around the cheese. Since Marguerite's fever shortly after the baby's birth had robbed her of her ability to nurse, they'd gotten an extra goat to keep the baby fed. The goat had produced milk prodigiously, so Veronica had not let the excess go to waste and had made some cheese. 

There was a small light from a candle flickering near the balcony. Roxton was sitting there, facing slightly away from Marguerite. The candle light as well as the moonlight streaming in from the balcony was glittering off of a shiny object that Roxton was dangling in his hand. He laughed softly and gently shook the thing, causing more reflected light to dance around. Marguerite heard a tiny gurgle come from Roxton's lap, and a pair of tiny hands reached up to try and grasp the glowing thing. Marguerite's heart slowed from its frantic rhythm. Roxton had the baby! She also noted that the missing Webleys were sitting on the table, gleaming softly in the candlelight. She let out her breath in a harsh rush of air.

Roxton heard her then, and his body tensed slightly as he turned his head to see who was there, even as his body curled protectively over the child in his arms. When he saw Marguerite standing there, he visibly relaxed. He smiled and gestured for her to come over.

Marguerite took the few steps necessary to reach him, trembling the whole while. Roxton slipped his arm around her waist and hugged her to him, then looked down at the baby. The child made one more grab for the shiny object, then looked up and graced her mother with an endearingly toothless smile.

"Evie and I were having a little game, Marguerite. She positively loves your locket…" His voice trailed off as he registered the fact that Marguerite was trembling. "Marguerite, love, what's the matter?"

She kept her eyes on the baby, taking in the precious features for a moment before she answered. "I woke up, and it was silent. It was silent, John, and the journal was on the floor, and you and your guns were gone, and Evie was gone. I was scared, John."

"She's fine, Marguerite, she's with me. I woke up and she was a little fussy, and I knew you were going to do the cooking for breakfast, so I decided to let you sleep. I was a little clumsy getting out of bed, and I knocked over the journal. As for the guns, I brought them with me. I thought to have them out here to remind me to finish cleaning them in the morning. It's all right, Marguerite, don't worry."

"I was thinking that maybe someone had come in. We were all so tired, and someone could have come in and tried to take her again, only this time in our home instead of the trail. I thought someone had taken her, John," she finished in a whisper, her voice laced with tears.

Roxton looked up at his wife, instantly contrite. The attempted kidnapping had taken place barely a month before, and the kidnappers had actually had their hands on the baby before they were stopped. Marguerite had suffered nightmares for several nights afterwards, and was still constantly checking on Evie, no matter where she was or who had her. Roxton had only thought to give Marguerite some much-needed rest, so he had taken Evie, along with the guns and Marguerite's locket that Evie so loved to play with, into the main room. He had completely forgotten about Marguerite's fear for their child. He was angry with himself for causing that fear to escalate. He gently smoothed away the one tear that had escaped her eyes, and hugged Marguerite hard, resting his head against her stomach.

"I'm so sorry, my love," he whispered. "I wasn't thinking. I should have realized that you would be worried if you woke up and Evie wasn't there. Forgive me for being a stupid prat."

Marguerite hugged him to her, then kneeled down to look her husband in the eye. He stared back at her, and she saw nothing but love in his eyes, along with his genuine regret that he had caused her any pain. She cupped his face in her hands.

"It's all right, John. I forgive you. After all, I've been a stupid prat myself, quite often." She smiled at his cheeky grin, then softly kissed him. "I was overreacting."

"No," he corrected, "you were being a mother. And you have every right to be worried about Evie. I just want you to know that I would do anything, or give everything, so keep her safe."

"I know," Marguerite said. She looked at her daughter, reaching out to stroke the dark curly head. Evie reached up and grabbed her mother's finger, babbling happily. "She's so beautiful, John. I can hardly believe she's ours. That's why I worry so much. I can't help thinking that something will happen to take this wonderful gift away from us."

"Oh, Marguerite, that will not happen. She has her Aunt Veronica and her uncles Challenger and Malone around to protect her, in addition to her mother and father. And I don't want you thinking that you don't deserve her. She certainly doesn't think so; she loves you very much. As do I."

Marguerite gulped as she took in Roxton's words. He always made her feel so safe, so loved, and so _worthy_ in spite of her past. She couldn't put her feeling into words, so instead she kissed him, a long, deep, heart-felt kiss that told Roxton more than anything she could have said. When she finally drew back, her face was flushed and smiling, and Roxton could feel that he was grinning like an idiot. 

He carefully lifted Evie up and placed her in her mother's arms. Marguerite cuddled her baby to her, cooing nonsense sounds as Evie patted her face. Roxton placed Marguerite's locket on the table, then sat down on the small sofa and pulled his wife and child onto his lap. When they were finally settled, his arm around Marguerite's shoulders, he looked down at the baby. Big green-gray eyes, exactly like her mother's, gazed back up at him. Evie cooed and then placed her fingers in her mouth.

"Would you like a story, little one?" Roxton asked, gently tapping Evie's tiny nose. She giggled and waved her little fists in the air. "Well, did I ever tell you about the time your mother saved your Uncle Ned from being a main course for a hungry raptor? See, it started out this way…"

Marguerite smiled as she listened to Roxton talk to their daughter. She could see that Evie loved hearing her father's voice. As she watched the baby's long eyelashes flutter, she herself yawned and laid her head down on Roxton's shoulder. 

"I love you, John," she whispered into his ear. He faltered, then gave her a brilliant smile and kissed her softly.

"I love you, too, Marguerite, oh, so much," he said quietly, before returning to his story. Marguerite closed her eyes. She was warm and safe, both she and her daughter, safe in her husband's arms. All was well.

When Veronica found them the next morning, asleep in each other's arms, their child cradled safe between them, it took all she had not to cry. So strange, to think of just a few years ago, that it could be like this. A kind of love that was incredible to see. She smiled and quietly started to make breakfast. Just this once, she could give Marguerite a chance to sleep in, after all she had been through. She looked over at them one more time before going down to wake up Challenger and Malone. 

"Oh, yes," she said softly to herself. "All is really well."

The End


End file.
